Ionosphere Correction of Polarimetric Interferometric BIOMASS SAR Data

Abstract

Interferograms at different polarisations form the basis of Polarimetric SAR Interferometry (Pol-InSAR), a radar remote sensing technique which uses the coherent combination of interferometric and polarimetric information to characterise and estimate structural parameters of natural and man-made (volume) scatterers. In the frame of the BIOMASS mission Pol-InSAR techniques are used to estimate yearly (top canopy) forest height on a global scale with a spatial resolution of 100 x 100 m2 and with an accuracy of 20-30%. The model based estimation is based on the Pol-InSAR data acquired by BIOMASS: three quadpolarimetric acquisitions (separated by 3 or 4 days from each other, with a constant progression on the order of 40% of the critical baseline) acquired in ascending and in descending geometry twice a year.